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Saturday, February 1, 2014

Hairspray - You Can't Stop the Beat.... VAMPIRE ON BANDSTAND --scroll down to the video ...2/1/14

Years ago, when BANDSTAND first went on the air out of an early TV studio on 48th Street, in PHILADELPHIA Tomas (our vampire star) would enter the building via a subway access and dance on the show. Dick Clark knew, because the guy who owned the station lent camera equipment to DOCTOR FRANKLIN so he could record strange specimens at his complex under The Philadelphia Navy Yard. They still have old deteriorating footage of two Jersey Devils and little baby merfolk swimming around in the old tank.

Tomas would slick his long wavy hair back in a duck tail. Looked sharp in his black slacks (no jeans then), black leather ankle boots and white shirt. He wore a black tie too. The other kids thought it was like part of a parochial school uniform, 'cause a lot of them came right after school.

I don't know where they are, but somewhere in Philadelphia, or possibly Los Angeles (from when Dick Clark moved out there, is a box filled with old kinescopes (early tapes) of kids dancing on the show. And you can clearly see Tomas... doing line dances and slow dances and strolls and fifties style jitter-bugs.

Two girls... there were two girls he used to dance with, Roberta and Josephine (they called her Josie). Rated a few records too, he did. Said - Hi, my name is 'Tommy.' I'm seventeen years old (he fudged a year) and I give it a seventy two, 'cause it's easy to dance to and I like the beat.

And that's it.... a vampire having fun. We put up the clip from HAIRSPRAY (about the real Corny Cobb show in Baltimore) to recreate the atmosphere. Couldn't find the old BANDSTAND kinescopes. I don't think Tomas cares if you see him.... I don't know... ENJOY!

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About Me

Been running the http://vampirewonderland.blogspot.com site for about four years. my by-line has appeared in various regional glossies. Wrote four screenplays. The blog is an outgrowth of one of them --PHILADELPHIA AFTER DARK. I like dogs and am lactose dependent rather than lactose intolerant. That means I go through a lot of ice cream and cheese.